Dr. John Makransky is Associate Professor of Buddhism and Comparative Theology at Boston College and Senior Academic Advisor for Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche’s Centre for Buddhist Studies in Kathmandu University, Nepal. John is the developer of the Sustainable Compassion Training (SCT) model, which has adapted contemplative principles and practices from Buddhism for secular application in social service and interfaith settings. This method has emerged as one of the leading models of secular compassion training in the United States, in conversation with the cognitive-based models developed at Emory and Stanford Universities. Sustainable Compassion Training (SCT) is being applied to help strengthen care and compassion and prevent empathic distress and burnout among people in diverse caring roles and professions. SCT is also at the core of an international education initiative that was launched by the Mind and Life Institute in 2014 and continues under the Courage of Care Coalition, which John co-founded with Brooke Dodson-Lavelle in 2016.

John's academic writings have focused on concepts and practices of Indian and Tibetan Buddhism, on adapting Buddhist practices in conversation with modern psychology and neuroscience to address current needs, and on theoretical issues in interfaith learning. For the past fifteen years, John has taught ways to cultivate more sustainable compassion to educators, healthcare and mental health providers, social workers, hospice volunteers, clergy, and those who work with prisoners, at-risk youth, the hungry, and the dying. He has offered contemplative workshops at Harvard Divinity and Medical Schools, Brown University, Emory University, University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of Virginia, Kathmandu University, practice centers of Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche and Phakchok Rinpoche, and many other institutions. John is also current president of the Society of Buddhist-Christian Studies. Information on his work can be found at these websites: http://courageofcare.org